To begin, this year we’ve finally (after years of trying) been successful at growing a healthy patch of swamp milkweed. I’m not sure why it’s been such a struggle – it’s possible we were trying to grow the wrong types of milkweed for our growing conditions (we have a very shady lot with heavy clay soil). At any rate, the swamp milkweed seems to have taken hold at last, and we’ve been overjoyed to find that Monarch butterflies have already been frequent visitors. Upon finding our first Monarch caterpillar we decided to raise them indoors. I’d done a little research, and found that their chances of surviving the metamorphosis to butterfly are only about 10% in the wild, but a helping hand from us can increase that to 80%! Considering the precipitous decline in Monarch populations in recent years, deciding to raise them ourselves was pretty much a no-brainer. If you have the resources to do it yourself, I highly recommend it, it’s a fascinating and rewarding process! A little online research will give you all the info you need in terms of learning what tools to have on 
hand, the time spans from egg to caterpillar, caterpillar to chrysalis, and chrysalis to butterfly, etc. But two things to be prepared for: first, you’ll need to make sure you have plenty of milkweed for the caterpillars! I was told they do nothing but eat and poop, and that is no exaggeration! It’s amazing how quickly they grow, how fast they mow through the milkweed, and how much excrement they leave! You’ll want to also be prepared to clean the habitat every day – it’s the best practice, in light of their rapid rate of growth. But overall it isn’t difficult, and the end result is the joy of releasing a beautiful Monarch butterfly into the world! This photo is our very first butterfly, a healthy male we released into the sunshine on a light breeze just this morning. We have an additional five chrysalises and two more little caterpillars at this point in time, so this is only the start!
As I mentioned above, plenty of milkweed is necessary for raising Monarch caterpillars, as that is the only food they will eat. I realized very quickly that the few milkweed plants growing in our backyard would not be enough for the ever-hungry little ones in our habitat, so I visited a nearby garden center. They had several varieties of the plant I needed, so I bought three more to supplement the ones we already had, and placed the flat of plants on my passenger seat for the 20 minute ride home. I was driving happily along, singing to the radio, when I noticed a slight movement out of the corner of my
eye. I glanced toward the plants beside me and found that a tiny Gray Tree Frog had hopped out of the plants (where it had been perfectly concealed) and onto my dashboard! Luckily for us both, I was nearly home by then, and was able to catch it before it moved to somewhere out of sight – or out of reach. I placed it gently on a shrub near our pond, where it graciously posed for a photo before disappearing into the greenery. It’s now living, hopefully quite happily, in our backyard…and I’m thinking that must make a very nice change from a busy garden center!
I am fortunate to be working part-time at a nature center, and we do take children out for short walks during summer camps. One day last week we 
were walking in the prairie when one of the naturalists found this beautiful Garden Spider – what a striking creature! Notice the intricacies of the web, including the lightning bolt pattern beneath her. Nature is a never-ending source of fascination!
Butterflies and frogs and spiders, fireflies, rabbits, deer, and a steady stream of birds. These have all been frequent visitors to our yard so far this summer, which has been a godsend to me, considering I haven’t been able to get out to wander lately. I am looking forward to several posts in the near future, however, to relate our vacation escapades to you! Until then, here are a couple of wildflower photos to set the stage…
wonderful place just outside of town, the Yellow House Lodge. Situated in a valley surrounded by the Andes mountains and mile upon mile of cloud forest, Mindo is not only breathtakingly beautiful, it’s also well known worldwide as one of the best places, anywhere, for birding (with over 500 species of birds) – especially if you enjoy hummingbirds! While there we also saw toucans, macaws, motmots, vultures, warblers… too many species to list here. We stayed for a couple of days and did do some exploring, but two days wasn’t nearly enough time!
it was around 14 or 15, I believe. In the bushes below the deck we were able to spot numerous hummers at rest, as well as the distinctive Bananaquits, with their white eyebrow and bright yellow breast, which also shared the same feeders.
Ecuador and other South American countries (we didn’t try any). I also nearly stepped on the little fuzzy tarantula pictured here, but saw him just in time to step aside.
Occasionally we were given a fleeting glimpse, beyond the heavy curtains of greenery, of the valley stretching away below us. It was a spectacular walk, and I recall it so vividly…the warmth of the day, the views all around us, the tree roots crossing the path as we were climbing, the many unusual flowers and other plants waving at us as we passed by. And the sounds…oh the sounds! I will never forget the riot of wild voices surrounding us that day! As I said, two days was not enough time, not nearly enough time, to spend in such a rich and varied landscape. One day we will go back! Well, I will go back – Mark isn’t as fond of travel as I am, so I might have to find a friend to accompany me!